Away! Away!
Let sluggards stay
The sluggish ruck within,
While Beauty stands
With outstretched hands
To welcome those who win!
And gems divine
And wealth and wine
Are strewn upon the board,
Where life and love
Go hand and glove,
Like slaves before their lord!
The motors fly,
The ships go by,
The tram-cars whizz and whirr—
I see them pass
As in a glass,
Where dim-limned shadows stir:
I long to hail
Some friendly sail
Ere _all_ the throng be past—
Then failure’s sense
And indolence
Reach down and hold me fast.
Away! Away!
To act to-day!
The victor’s creed is _Now_—
A cloudless brain,
An easy rein,
A firm hand on the plough!
Aside is flung
The pall that hung
From damned Inaction’s mast ...
Then half-thought themes
And dreamer’s dreams
Reach down ... and hold me fast.
[Illustration: Man seated at desk]